Author: Dave Towne

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Is Overlooked by HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge 19

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Is Overlooked by HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge

Marcia Fudge, the Secretary of HUD, decided to convene a special meeting of master minds with absolutely no real diversity, equity or inclusion included, with the intent of “closing the racial gap and increasing access to homeownership in African American communities.” Appraisers, all the racial mud-slinging against appraisers by the current government is extremely disheartening toward our honored profession. The people ‘in power’ over the last few years have been fond of image building and acronyms, believing those items will have magical influence over property values, and how people conduct themselves. One of these is named DEI, which stands for...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / HUD / The US Department of Housing and Urban Development / Trending

GLA Adjustment Process: - Adjusting the Full Difference vs. a Threshold Amount 79

GLA Adjustment: Adjusting Full Difference vs a Threshold Amount

Appraisers, on Thursday, before the Memorial Day holiday, I circulated across the US an email asking for response to a simple two question survey about how you “adjust” the GLA square footage between the Subject and Comparables. The questions: adjust 100% of the square foot difference, or adjust the difference after a ‘threshold’ square foot amount (meaning not the full 100% difference). I received a respectable number of responses compared to emails sent out, and also posted to 3 different web forums, nearly 200 replies. So that’s enough to validate the percentage of both responses, and report the trends. As...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Software / Appraisers News / Trending

Sale Price versus Appraised Value Disconnect 8

Sale Price vs Appraised Value Disconnect

How can it be said that valuing a property lower than its eventual sale price based on current market evidence is tantamount to BIAS?  The article titled “FHFA Data Fueling Looks into Appraisal Bias” was in the Inside Mortgage Finance Publications e-newsletter on 4/06/23. The Federal Housing Finance Agency is a is a critical provider of the data necessary for oversight, enforcement and research, FHFA Director Sandra Thompson noted during a discussion in late March. According to aggregate statistics from the Uniform Appraisal Dataset released by the FHFA, roughly 57% of appraisals were above the contract price in 2021. Just...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / CFPB / Consumer Financial Protection Bureau / Federal Housing Finance Agency

Speed Regardless of Accuracy Under the Banner of Modernization 14

Speed Regardless of Accuracy Under the Banner of Modernization

Appraisers, something – comparing and contrasting – dawned on me last week, after reading another news release titled “Dean Kelker: Appraisal Modernization is Starting to Gain Momentum“, which is basically pushing an “Enterprise” singular ‘agenda’ of valuation speed regardless of accuracy. Under the banner of “modernization.” VA does not demand appraisers complete assigned appraisal assignments extraordinarily quickly. They give appraisers 7 – 10 days (depending on location) to submit the report after assignment. VA expects good quality and accurate information. FHA/USDA/ONAP also expects appraisal accuracy using an inspection protocol that many appraisers object to, and some choose not to do...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Marin City Discrimination Case Settled 30

Marin City Discrimination Case Settled

It’s unfortunate that this case was SETTLED in the way it was, because in reality, nothing about racial discrimination and disparate treatment was actually proven at a full trial…  The first case that’s been adjudicated claiming appraiser discrimination has been SETTLED by the defendant appraiser and the plaintiffs, with the judge “dismissing all claims with prejudice”, meaning it cannot be re-opened by the plaintiffs, but it can be appealed to a higher court by the defendant. From what I know, this case never went to a full trial. Motions were only presented to the presiding judge, who made this ruling....

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

Exactly How Are Property Data Collectors Professionally Trained? 17

Exactly How Are Property Data Collectors Professionally Trained?

Somebody explain to me exactly how Property Data Collectors are “professionally trained” per Fannie Mae directives. The fact is, Fannie Mae is explicitly working toward the elimination of appraisers for real property valuations. This is in their latest Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2023-02 to the Fannie Mae Selling Guide: Value acceptance + property data is a new option that utilizes property data collection by a third party who conducts interior and exterior data collection on the subject property. To ensure consumer protections, the lender must verify and be able to demonstrate that data collectors are vetted through an annual background check,...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Trending

Opportunity to Work for Free is Not a Plan 73

‘Opportunity’ to Work for Free is Not a Plan

I gave this ‘opportunity’ further critical analysis in terms of time spent versus the fee income potential.  Appraisers, I’d like to disclose a personal ‘opportunity’ that was presented to me last fall, early winter. A company with AMC roots was, or is, recruiting people to become “property inspectors” with the resulting reports potentially fed to other appraisers who do HYBRID, or maybe even DESKTOP reports. The GSEs never intended the DESKTOP report to incorporate separate ‘property inspections’ from a hired third party, but that’s been the evolution because they just look the other way. Last fall, due to the slowdown...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees

Confusing Language for USPAP Ethics Rule Addition 31

Confusing Language for USPAP Ethics Rule Addition

A proposed update of professional guidelines for property appraisals contains confusing language about what constitutes discrimination, and would even suggest appraisers could engage in “ethical” discrimination.  Folks, the following article is in the ABA Banking Journal e-newsletter, posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2023. I’m really glad this has been released. Hopefully the Appraisal Standards Board will closely examine the concerns of the regulators. I read the USPAP 4th Exposure Draft. It contains so much new Ethics Rule “legaleze” language about conduct that it is, and can be, overwhelmingly confusing to a majority of appraisers. It’s written by lawyers in such...

Appraisal / Appraisal Organizations / ASB / The Appraisal Foundation / The Appraisal Standards Board / Trending

Staff Reductions at AMCs 24

Staff Reductions at AMCs

Making massive staff reductions in the appraisal management department, including the Chief Appraiser and the Administrative Manager, who both are licensed appraisers. Appraisers, it’s not ‘just us’ who have taken the slowdown in lending “in the shorts.” I have confirmed changes at THREE different AMCs: CoreLogic is laying off all W-2 ‘staff’ appraisers, and most of the staff administering those folks. Corelogic may continue placing assignments with 1099 vendor appraisers. My suspicion is that many of the W-2 appraisers will continue to work with Corelogic as 1099 vendors, especially in the urban areas. Clear Capital is making massive staff reductions...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

Spear Throwers Using Census Data as Evidence for Bias 31

Census Data Used as Evidence for Bias

I’ve previously written about how the various spear throwers at appraisers have used ‘census tract data’ in their assertions that appraisers are racially biased. It’s been done by Freddie Mac, by Andre Perry in his testimony before Congress, by Ph.D Elizabeth Korver-Glenn in her dissertation paper, not reviewed by anyone with appraisal experience, to obtain that lofty status, the media, and other so called ‘studies’ and ‘reports’ since. That is information foreign to appraisers, because we don’t use or reference anything about Census Tracts in our reports. The only place that shows up is in one field on the GSE...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

xml sitemap
blank